#unless you’re crime is against voting

[nikki-rook]

So based on my understanding Trump wouldn’t get to vote in my state especially if he received a prison sentence. It would only be restored after serving that sentence. And yet he can still run for president. Tell me how that works.

[highlyillogicalandroid]

A few reminders based on things I’ve seen online and things I’ve had said to my face and in my DMs the past couple of weeks:

Telling Jews we’re disrespectful for observing Hanukkah this year is antisemitism. Our religious and cultural practices have nothing to do with Israeli politics or military actions. Unless you’re also telling Christians not to celebrate Christmas, you’re being antisemitic.

Calling Jews Zionists/colonizers/pro-Israel/anti-Palestinian when you do not know our politics is antisemitism. Not all Jews are Israeli and not all Jews support Israel’s actions.

Accusing all Israeli Jews of being fascists/terrorists/etc. is antisemitism. Not all Israelis voted for the current government. Many are fighting for Palestinian rights. Assuming otherwise is the equivalent of calling all USAmericans Trump supporters simply because he won an election.

Claiming that Israeli civilians who were killed or taken hostage “deserved it” is antisemitism. Mistreatment of civilians, hostages, and POWs is as much a war crime when it’s perpetrated against Israelis as it is when the Israeli military does it.

Telling Jews we’re not in danger or that we have no right to be afraid in the world today is antisemitism. Hate crimes against Jews have risen remarkably since October, in countries all over the world.

Telling Jews we have white privilege and shouldn’t complain is antisemitism. White and white-passing Jews are still in danger, and you are erasing Jews of color when you make blanket statements like this.

Comparing Israel to Nazi Germany as some sort of gotcha is antisemitism. You have purposely chosen that comparison over any others because you know it will hurt Jews. We do not deserve to have our traumas dragged out and flayed open in order for you to make your point.

It is possible and necessary to support Palestine without resorting to antisemitism. When you draw false equivalencies, when you gaslight Jews, when you drive us from social justice spaces, you are silencing the voices of Jews who want to support Palestine, and you are hurting innocent people.

I hope people will take this to heart. I hope people will think carefully before they open their mouths or post or hit reblog. I hope they will ask themselves, “Is this support of Palestine coming at the expense of the Jewish people?” And if the answer is yes, I hope they will think twice about amplifying it.

[thebumblingbee]

It’s late and I’m sick and grumpy so I’m gonna rant a bit.

You know what narrative that’s being pushed that I’m getting very sick of?

‘You survived trump before. A second trump term won’t kill you.’

Because that is so. blatantly. false.

I mean, unless you’re cis, white, able bodied, upper middle class, and in a firmly blue state. Then you’re probably fine. But the rest of us aren’t going to be.

There are a thousand points that can be made here, but I’m just going to touch on what’s relevant to my personal life.

1. Trans rights. We all know that the second trump takes office, it’s one of his missions to absolutely obliterate trans folks in whatever way he can. That’s going to start with stripping healthcare away from them. No more HRT. Which will kill people.

1b. Another thing people don’t think about that scares me shitless: billing codes for doctor appointments. If you don’t know, every time you go to the doctor they submit the bill to health insurance using billing codes. Oftentimes, if you talk at all about chronic conditions or have a diagnosis for one, that billing code will be submitted. If you have ever discussed trans healthcare with your doctor, your bill is likely being submitted with associated billing codes. If all healthcare associated with being trans is outlawed, it’s likely that your doctor appointments won’t be covered by insurance because they have that billing code. So that completely wipes out all healthcare for trans folks, even that isn’t HRT related.

2. Gay marriage, and specifically walking back protections. If something were to happen and marriages would be dissolved (and don’t come into my notes telling me it’s impossible. After Roe v Wade, anything is on the table), people would start losing health insurance. Including me, a person that is so disabled that I cannot work and get my own insurance through an employer. Losing my access to health insurance would actually, literally kill me. I cannot afford my treatments out of pocket. I would just get sicker and then die.

3. Also related to LGBTQ rights, the whole thing about taking children away from families because their parents are queer. The intention is to put these children into an overburdened, abusive system simply for the crime of their parents not being cishet. This will result in the deaths of many children and adults for a number of reasons.

4. This is already happening, but will get worse: all of the women who have died due to their basic right to reproductive healthcare being criminalized.

5. The sheer increase in violence being perpetrated by trump supporters against anybody that doesn’t look like them or think like them. I’ve literally been threatened with murder by a trump supporter neighbor because I’m queer. And the city I live in is liberal as hell.

And I am well aware that many of these things are happening to people all over the country already. I am so, so sorry to all of those who suffer so greatly already. But we are going to see this on a much larger scale if trump gets a second term in office.

So you don’t get to sit here and tell me I’m not allowed to be scared. That I’m overreacting. That I’m a shitty person. That I survived last time and will survive again. Because I, and those I love, more than likely will not.

Until you’ve sat awake in the middle of the night planning how you’re going to leave your home and seek asylum elsewhere, you don’t get to tell me to get over it. Until you’ve had to preemptively rehome pets to prepare to be able to not be in your house quickly, you have no right to belittle me. Until you’ve had to think about your child, who has only ever known your home and your love, getting taken away and having to live in a fucked up system, you don’t get to tell me to calm down.

I am so incredibly envious of those that get to vote purely based on morality, who don’t have to worry about their literal survival. I’m so glad that you get to feed into your own superiority complex while many of us are panicking about the very real consequences on our own futures. Because we have to care more about ourselves and our families. Because we have to give in to the fact that we can’t help everybody in the world in one fell swoop. Putting our oxygen masks on ourselves before others, if you will.

So please. The people telling you that not voting is a smart thing to do are being malicious. Even if you don’t vote in the presidential elections, vote for your local stuff. Because that’s how actual change is going to begin happening.

[ridenwithbiden]

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court heard arguments over whether a Texas man under a domestic violence restraining order has a Second Amendment right to own guns. We’re in this hell because the court decided in June 2022 that modern gun laws are unconstitutional unless there’s a historical basis for them—meaning, would a bunch of 18th-century white guys agree with it or not?

United States v. Rahimi is one of the biggest cases of this Supreme Court term and Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito sounded very concerned that courts are stripping away a fundamental right from men who judges agree are abusive, while the other justices sounded very skeptical of the argument. But since it’s a blockbuster case, we likely won’t get a decision until late June 2024, which is when the court typically rules on the biggest appeals—regardless of when they were first argued. So we have a good seven months to worry about it.

Domestic violence groups have made the stakes crystal clear with their amicus briefs, noting that removing guns from domestic abusers saves lives. And according to gun safety group Everytown, 70 women are shot and killed every month by current or former partners. In her opening comments, U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar—the person tasked with defending the law—made the same point. Prelogar said that the court recognized in a 2014 case that “all too often, the only difference between a battered woman and a dead woman is the presence of a gun.” Prelogar said the U.S. does have a long tradition of disarming people who are considered a danger to society. She also noted that domestic violence wasn’t considered a problem at the time of the founding, but that shouldn’t prevent governments from passing laws against it now. After all, modern laws ban guns in schools even though there isn’t a historical analog.

The three liberal justices all seemed like they’d vote to uphold the law and even Justices John Roberts, Amy Coney Barrett, and Neil Gorusch sounded like they disagreed with the arguments that Rahimi’s federal public defender was making.

But Justice Thomas and Alito were concerned that it’s too easy for state courts to take guns away from people accused of domestic violence but not convicted of a crime. “If this were a criminal proceeding, then you would have a determination of what you’re talking about—someone would be convicted of a crime, a felony assault or something,” Thomas said. “But here you have something that’s anticipatory or predictive, where a civil court is making the determination.” Justice Alito then posed a hypothetical showing he’s much more worried about people’s right to possess a gun than the dangers that gun could pose to others. “If the person [under the restraining order] thinks that he or she is in danger and wants to have a firearm, is that person’s only recourse to possess the firearm and take their chances if they get prosecuted?” Alito asked.

It’s horrifying to think about these arguments coming from the same Justices who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade—and Alito wrote that opinion himself. Homicide is the number one cause of death for pregnant people. Domestic violence hotlines have seen a spike in calls since the fall of Roe. We’ve seen stories in the last year of men shooting their partners because they did or didn’t get abortions.

If the Supreme Court eventually rules against Rahimi and strikes down the appeals court decision, it will be a win—but that doesn’t mean the court is suddenly reasonable, it just means their 2022 Bruen decision was so nuts that they have to put guardrails on it. It’s still absurd that this case even made it to the court in the first place.

[wickedlvst]

it's starter call time.

because i want to use the following muses more, please like this post for a starter based on something from your wishlist. bonus points for kinky, dark and/or taboo plots. also, i'd be eternally grateful if you could specify which muse(s) you want!

charlotte. historical muse. submissive. bicurious. fc: hannah dodd. gentle & romantic sweetheart. usually, some sort of princess or noble lady.

blair. submissive. pansexual. fc: lily rose depp. part-girl who has a tendency to go off the rails. usually flirts for her drinks and isn’t above handing out favors instead of cash for drugs. voted most likely to become either a stripper or sugarbaby. loves to be spoiled like a princess and fucked like a filthy whore.

cairo. switch. pansexual. fc: sabrina carpenter. knows all too well how beautiful she is and isn't above taking advantage of that to get what she wants. playful and teasing. a little brat. very much into being treated like an object, though. loves to go by ‘mommy’ as a dom.

esther. submissive. pansexual. fc: kristine froseth. artsy college-student. looks all innocent but has been a regular visitor in bdsm-clubs ever since she turned 18 - even if she’s mostly been a passive audience rather than an active participant so far.   

maria. switch (sub-leaning). pansexual. fc: zion moreno. the epitome of generational wealth. sweet, spoiled babygirl on the outside. doesn’t do trips unless five-star hotels and first-class flights are involved. will absolutely spoil her loved ones without thinking twice about it as well. has secretly been fascinated (read: obsessed) by true crime ever since her sister was murdered. has a dark side hiding underneath that shiny rich girl shell.

sloane. switch. pansexual. fc: hunter schafer. business tycoon’s & hippie mother’s only child. complicated relationship with her father ever since she decided against joining the family company to pursue a life in the arts. curious nature with the biggest heart & determined to try absolutely everything at least once - regrets are for the weak. probably should have been tested for adhd as a child. softest dom ever in the best way possible. loves to keep switchings up in a relationship. 

tabitha. submissive. bicurious. fc: cailee spaney.  a literal angel sent to earth. terrified of breaking any rules or committing a sin - will do so anyway if you ask nicely. definitely a virgin. 

valeria. switch. pansexual. fc: rachel zegler. ambitious golden girl & her parents’ pride. proud & bratty tease, but will very quickly beg and plead if that tactic is used against her.

zoe. switch. pansexual. fc: savannah lee smith. the biggest mean girl - think regina george but worse. nice to your face if you’re lucky, definitely mocking you behind your back. has a strong preference for cute girls and men old enough to be at least her father. not shy at all about using her sexuality to get what she wants. prefers a nice power struggle in her sexual relationships. 

[anthonybialy]

Back to Not Abnormal

Most people would claim to prefer sanity.  Thinking clearly seems logical unless you’re insane.  There’s a good test if anyone’s worried about being infected.  Discarding maniacal idiocy is apparently the wisest course.  If you are familiar with many of humanity’s regrettable tendencies, you understand why there’s no certainty.  We tried out lunacy just to see if we enjoyed it.  Keeping an open mind allows for new experiences even if trying once turns out to be sufficient.

You’re no longer deemed racist for existing, which is nice in the way no longer hitting yourself on the head with a claw hammer feels better by comparison.  One scumbag cop kneeling on a suspect’s neck is no longer valid as an excuse for telling one race of people to pipe down and listen as if another is more authentic in its experience.  You can fill in any group and it’s wrong, which is a way to check.

Grievances aren’t necessarily accurate.  Take how in this case they were totally inaccurate.  The sort of subjective beings who say things like “My truth” may not perceive reality with clarity.  Admitting to subjectivity is a good start even if it’s inadvertent.  Pent-up venters just happen to be the same ones who think Hamas represents the persecuted and this White House has made everyone rich just because the dollar figures seem so high.

Government will cure you, according to countless epitaphs.  It turns out coerced care is the precise opposite of compassionate, what with creating shortages while raising prices.  Micromanaging your breathing and associating only sound like exaggerations.

Getting up in your grill doesn’t just apply to nasty flus inflicted by inept supervillains.  Violating the health of your liberties leads to your physical being declining, too.  Deciding something others provide for you is a right leads to it becoming unobtainable.   Other than the philosophical and practical failures, everything works out.

Billing the collective is a bad way to get goods.  Stuff is supposed to become affordable by billing all of us, meaning others.  Forcing the collective to pay results in an unwieldy cost burden where people either pay ridiculous prices that inevitably result from removing competition or force anyone who makes more to pay way more in taxes, which results in a downturn of spending and hiring.  You can’t choose which way coercion causes ironic woe.

The notion that government is good at anything at all runs counter to every moment we’ve endured, so at least ceaseless suffering had a purpose.  The incumbent claims to have experience yet runs against it.  Aren’t you enjoying your newfound wealth?  There’s the little catch of how we’ve been handed Monopoly money, with the difference being it’s fun to outfox art history majors who think gentrifying Marvin Gardens with hotels would displace the indigent.  A game where entrepreneurs must put others out of business defines liberalism as much as the way they’re terrible at it.

The notion that politicians should seize lucre in order to spend wisely never made sense.  But we tried it just to make sure.  The rather pushy redistribution wasn’t voluntarily, of course, unless signing over one’s autonomy permanently is the consequence of voting once.  That’s Democratic policy.

Coerced cooperation was always preposterous.  The ominous notion now features the immediacy of many horrid examples.  Thank Joe Biden for disproving everything he believes.  

Seeing results is bad news for the theoretically-minded.  Self-branded intellectuals can’t even think of appealing schemes.  Patent claptrap has been inflicted upon everyone for a couple years as part of a rather dubious trend that’s hopefully never treated as a throwback.  We live under a government that’s only semi-skilled at stopping crime, which is the one task it’s neglected.  One of its very few actual assigned roles has been swapped out for ensuring diversity.  Risk is ubiquitous for equality.

Everyone was benefiting from open markets and locked prisons to the point that ingrates decided the solutions were the problems.  The unappreciative naturally kvetch about what allows them to idle.

Removing safeguards went as well as declaring politicians are better at spending than whoever earned the money in question, which is to say not very.  Take a look at who decided what we didn’t need luxuries like autonomy to learn why letting someone else make decisions is a very bad idea.  Biden’s staffers are so bad at being productive that they had to find work hassling those who are.

This decade is not just an experiment to see how woeful life can get, although that was the result.  Change for the sake of it needs specifics.  Imposing daily burdens differs entirely from preserving fantastically counterproductive mandatory programs with coerced funding.

Anyone sick of feeling perpetually fed up might even get to the point where they seek a president who suggests you can choose things for yourself.  All it took was trying the opposite.  Voters consented, once.

[aggresionmotion]

Okay I get it. I get you’re rightfully upset about genocide. At the end of the day you have to ask yourself, if you live in the United States, are you willing to accept you are killing your neighbors or do you care more about killing people you haven’t met. I know it’s evil sounding and calloused. But the US has been doing this shit for fucking decades. Yes, they are suffering and we shouldn’t be funding Israel. But where the fuck was the outrage during Afghanistan, Pakistan, Africa, and every other country we have willingly helped commit crimes against for the last 20 years. I understand if some of you were too young to vote then, but those of you who were old enough to and didn’t say anything then why now? It wasn’t hard to find out the information then and it’s not hard to find it now. Why are you choosing now?

Now for those who are too young to have cared or know about it, let me tell you that the real evil is congress. The president can only do so much, it takes two thirds of congress to agree for most presidential decisions to pass. It’s why we weren’t immediately deported back to where ever Trump thought we came from.

Just please relearn how the government system works and remember the inherent corruption that is the political system. We can’t fix that unless we actually hypothetically burned it all down and started over.

Have the guts to look them all in the eye and warn them first.

[stevensaus]

Ohio Rep. Bill Dean (R-Xenia) Casts Lone Vote To Defend Rapists.

The original story headline at the Cincinnati Dispatch was "Ohio Republican: Bill to scrap spousal rape exception could create 'wedge' in marriages." I think my headline is a bit more accurate. And yes, I think it's VERY important that we ensure that Bill Dean's name is attached to his support of rape. He thought it important enough to publicly vote to defend rapists, after all. Dean was the only lawmaker to oppose Ohio House Bill 161, which aims to "eliminate spousal exceptions for rape and other sex crimes." The legislation would remove "a provision in Ohio law that protects spouses from prosecution against rape, unless the perpetrator threatened force or the couple lives in separate homes. It also removes the marital exception for sexual battery and other sex crimes and allows spouses to testify against their partner in these cases." (Cincinnati Dispatch) Once I knew a couple who had a large number of children. It was only after that friendship had deteriorated that I learned one of the reasons they had so many kids: Even if she knew that she was likely to get pregnant, even if she told him no, he would insist on having sex with her. That was the first time I'd personally heard about a husband forcing his wife to have sex. It was not the last. The stories I've personally heard sometimes feature threats, sometimes whining, and almost always some weaponized guilt. They all feature disregarding and trampling the boundaries and rights of women. {1} According to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, a third of rapes are committed by the person's current or former spouse, boyfriend or girlfriend. In the 2016-2017 National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, the most recent one available, almost 20% of women and 7.6% of men reported sexual violence by an intimate partner. And to Bill Dean, none of them -- at least if they're married -- actually are rape.

> Dean told a reporter, “I personally don’t believe that a man, if he’s married and has physical relations with his wife, that can be considered rape.” {2} -- Dayton Daily News Dean was quick to use rapists as a scare tactic when fighting against reproductive rights, saying the (voter-approved) amendement's "language is dangerously vague and unconstrained, and can be weaponized to attack parental rights or defend rapists, pedophiles, and human traffickers." But when it came to actually doing something to fight against rapists, Bill Dean of Xenia Ohio, actually voted against it. I keep thinking about the real, actual women I know who were raped. I think about them telling me they learned to just suffer it rather than fight back. How they learned nobody would help them. That some people would not even consider it rape, even when she said no. And I think about Bill Dean, how he has ten children, and wonder what other times Bill Dean thinks rape is perfectly fine. You can contact Bill Dean, rapist defender and Ohio State Representative, at 77 South High Street Floor 12 Columbus, OH 43215 Phone: (614) 466-1470 {1} If you're reading this and are wondering if I know what you did, if you're wondering if I am talking about about you... well, thanks for proving that you know exactly what you did. {2} Yes, the gendering he does here is pretty telling as well, isn't it? Read the full article

[studentsguidetofilmmaking]

Film festivals are not always so festive.

That’s a wrap! It’s in the can! Where’s the cast party?

Your film is finally done. You’ve spent three months scripting, filming and editing your Opus. It came in under budget, the actors all received their free pizza and you have a burned DVD-R wet with the sweat from your brow. What’s next?

Film Festivals! The chance for all your peers to see you work! Red carpets, interviews and trophies await!

Do I sound upbeat and positive? In a perfect world, I should be. But as we know, the world isn’t so perfect.

The first time I submitted a film to festivals, I didn’t have enough stamps and padded envelopes to contain my enthusiasm. Weekly trips to the post office with a car seat full of parcels ensued, not to mention all the festivals I submitted to online through Withoutabox and FilmFreeway.

All told, I entered into 32 festivals at an average cost of $25 per entry. Pull up the calculator app: that’s $800 of hard-earned cash that could go toward another credit of college tuition!

What did I get for my efforts? The film was accepted by four festivals. Math was never my strong suit, but I could tell that was a low percentage. Wave goodbye to your $700 donation to the all the festivals’ prize funds, none of which you will ever see.

I don’t mean to be depressing, but that’s reality. You might think your creation is important and worthy of viewership, but there are many obstacles your film must overcome.

First, your film will be going up against thousands of other entries from all over the world. Festival curators are faced with hundreds of DVDs that flood their desks each festival cycle and yours will just be a speck in the deluge.

Second, your film will be judged against preconceived notions of what is “en vouge.” To this point, when the film “Reservoir Dogs” was popular, everyone I knew in filmmakers’ circles wanted to make similar-storied films and I was no different.

When I decided to submit my crime-based film, I recall reading a phrase in a particular festival’s submission rules: “Please do not send us films that show suited men sporting goatees and firing guns in parking lots.” Apparently there was a glut of such films to which the festivals were reacting.

Third, your film is often viewed by a panel of judges, anyone of which could cast the a “no” vote for any reason; maybe they didn’t like the subject matter, or perhaps, as a filmmaker themselves, your film was better than anything they've ever created and they're ego prevented them from being upstaged.

Then, there are the times you might receive the nefarious response, “Due to the overwhelming number of submissions, we couldn’t include your film in this year’s cycle” which can be interpreted as “sorry, but your film doesn't measure up to our standards.”

Everyone has an opinion, but if you believe in your film and what you created, then ignore it, refocus and carry on.

So, if you think submitting to festivals is a lost cause, let not your hopes be ruined like opening a can of unexposed film in a lighted room. With a few simple strategies, you can still get your film shown.

If this is your first time submitting to festivals, shy away from any that list themselves as “international.” This indicates that the festival receives films from every crevasse of the big blue marble. Unless you think your film is an award contender, you’ll be burning Benjamins trying to compete against sheer volume. And since festivals rent theaters or meeting halls for a finite time period such as a few days, not every film they receive can be shown in the time period allotted.

Instead, you should start out sending your film to local festivals, such as on the town or state level. The largest concern of any festival is attendance, so if you’re local, a festival is more likely to accept your film because they assume you will likely bring friends and family along to see your premiere. In fact, some festivals actually ask how many of your peeps will be in attendance!

Remember, festivals are economically driven and incur costs, so a healthy turnout is critical for them to survive. Further, the local strategy is also two-fold: it gets your film shown, but it also allows you to place Award Laurels on your film which will increase its credibility at international festivals in the future.

Festivals also list mission statements that define the types of films they are interested in to promote a particular cause, theme or agenda. They range anywhere from LGBT to environmental to Christian, and they can be further categorized by genre such as horror, action and science fiction. With the increasing popularity of film festivals, branding has become necessary to set them apart from the competition, which in turn also helps them limit the overwhelming amount of submissions they receive.

Therefore, if your film is a horror story, send it to horror film festivals. If it has an environmental theme, send it to a festival that highlights environmental awareness, and so on. This will increase your chances of being accepted dramatically.

Create a plan of action for submitting your film. Start small, gain notoriety and buzz, then slowly target larger venues. If you encounter rejection, remember that it’s just someone else’s opinion. Believe in what you created and don't let yourself be discouraged. Get up, dust yourself off and forge ahead!

[stephenjaymorrisblog]

Low Turnout for Trump’s Tailgating Party

Stephen Jay Morris

6/14/2023

©Scientific Morality

            Oh, you should have read the Tweets on Twitter’s cyber bulletin board! The Chuds were as histrionic as a high school drama major. One Tweet read, “We will avenge the deep state in indicting our patriotic leader President Donald J Trump! Blood will be flowing in the streets of Miami! Signed American Warrior!” Well, the only thing flowing was sewage from a busted pipe in the street gutters of Miami—which is a normal occurrence in that city.

The only glamour that’s ever come out of Miami was in the 1980’s TV crime drama, “Miami Vice,” with its pastel colored clothes and buildings, fast sports cars, and 80’s music on the soundtrack. Florida has become the premier state of reactionary politics, alligators high on meth, and White Trash criminals robbing convenience stores. If you like tornadoes, tidal waves, or unbearable humidity in the summer, Florida is your state! There’s lot of racism against Afro-Americans and Latin migrant workers. Jewish retirees are subjects of Anti-Semitic jokes. That is, unless you’re a WASP or an exile of Communist CUBA.  White Catholics are treated as second class Aryans unless they’re Conservatively correct.  No wonder the state is shaped like a penis. Does that mean America is no longer identified by the pronouns she/her?  America is a Trans-nation?? Florida’s governor, an Italian American named Ron DeSantis, thinks he is going to beat Trump for the presidency in 2024. He cannot stop using the word, “Woke” anytime he’s on camera, in public. Does he have a solution to Florida’s infrastructure problems or natural disasters? No! But he swears he is going to stop the woke agenda! Whatever the fuck THAT is! He’s already promised that, if Trump is convicted, he will pardon him. Yes! That is the way to get Trump votes!

Well, leading up to yesterday, there were promises made to the public, over cable TV and social media, that fifty thousand, enraged Trump supporters, armed with pitchforks and torches, would show up in Miami and tear down the federal court building! A contingency of Proud Boys had committed to come and beat up Left wing, counter-protesters. Militia groups were going to march, AR 15s at their side, ready to use them if provoked. They were to begin a second civil war in America!

So, what happened? All in all, about 250 Trump supporters showed up. It amounted to what looked like a Trump campaign rally in Montana. “Blacks for Trump” showed up, all 9 of them, though it was more like a low turnout for a tailgate party for the Miami Heat in the parking lot of Kaseya Center. The Heat just lost the NBA championship, by the way. I’m sure Miami is proud of their team.

The only action reported was that of a Baby Boomer “Woke” protester. He was wearing a 19th Century era, black and white striped prison uniform, and holding a sign that read, “Lock Him UP.” At one point, he ran in front of the motorcade to try and stop it, but Secret Service agents immediately pushed him aside and onto the ground. Miami police took him away in handcuffs.

In the end, Trump entered a plea of “Not guilty,” and then he and his team went on their merry way to a campaign rally at his New Jersey golf club.

The next time I go to traffic court, I want my own motorcade paid for by the taxpayers.

[whiteqnn]

PURE [2] - Corpse Husband x Fem! Reader

Pairing: Corpse Husband x Fem!Reader

A/N:  443 notes?! THIS IS INSANE! Thank you guys so much for all the love under the first part of this, I was so shocked to see how many people enjoyed this story! I hope this one will be just as fun for you as the first one ^^

part 1

part 3 

part 4 

part 5

PURE [2]

Corpse stared at the red screen with the word IMPOSTOR written in the middle, his eyes widened, a small smile tugging at his lips. 

“No way” he murmured into his microphone, no longer holding himself from breaking into laughter. “Do you guys see this? I wish I could see Y/N’s reaction.”

It took his audience just a second to respond, his chat being flooded with lots of comments about the said girl. 

“SHES SHOOK” he managed to read one from the hundreds of comments, once again bursting into laughter. “Yeah, I can imagine.”

He decided to follow Lily for a while to make himself less suspicious. He probably didn’t need to do that this time, since the others usually suspected him when he was innocent. Ironically, each time he was the impostor, they seemed completely blind to every murder he committed. 

They were both doing their tasks in O2 when the first body was reported. 

“Woah, Y/N is fast” he mumbled, before unmuting himself. 

“Okay,” Lily began speaking first “Corpse is 100% innocent, we were together this whole round, doing our tasks in O2. That’s all I have.”

“Yeah I saw you guys in there,” Felix said. “Where’s the body Sykkuno?”

“Um, so first of all I can also vouch for Dave and Y/N, we were hanging out all this time. So in the beginning, we were all in the upper engine, protecting each other like good friends that we are, and then we headed towards the medbay. And that’s where it gets interesting because I’m pretty sure I saw Poki leave medbay and run to the cafeteria.”

“You really think I would kill my best friend in the first round?”

“Yeah well, some people do” Sean scoffed, clearly referring to the last game when he was murdered by Felix. “Besides, I saw you guys when I was leaving Security so it looks like you were with her the entire round.”

“Wha- Okay, let me defend myself. I would never kill her if I was the impostor, which I’m not because she’d literally come barging into my room to murder me. She’d kill me for killing her first.”

Toast, who seemingly still held grudge against Corpse’s fellow impostor, decided to call Y/N out “Y’know, we all played with Rae before, so we all know how furious she gets after being killed first... but there’s one person who doesn’t know that.”

“Y/N/N?” Sean’s voice blared through their headphones “As much as I know how hard it would be for her to make the first kill, I can actually see that happening.”

“What?! Sykkuno vouched for me literally seconds ago, where the heck did you get that from Toast?” she asked in utter shock. Corpse glanced at his chat and leaned towards his mic, making sure that he was muted in the game.

“Y’know guys, if I didn’t know she’s the impostor, I’d believe in her every word. I mean, she’s so innocent, just listen to her.” he said with a smile, not expecting in the slightest how his audience will react. 

“Aww, he goes soft for her ^^” 

“The duo we need but don’t deserve”

“Y/N FOR THE BRIDE”

“What?” he almost stuttered, quickly going through the growing number of such comments. “I mean-”

“Ooh, someone’s getting angry. Where the heck? That’s aggressive, Y/N” Felix’s amused voice brought him back to reality, and even though Corpse didn’t use a webcam, he still tried to hide his pink-tinted cheeks in the material of his hoodie.

“It was not me! I swear! I was doing my tasks all this time, making sure that no one murders Sykkuno or Dave!” 

“You’re pretty defensive for someone who claims to be innocent,” Toast said with a smirk hiding in his voice. 

“Give her a break guys, she was literally with us all this time. I’m sure we would’ve noticed if she killed somebody” Dave stood up for her, but it seemed like all the attention was directed from Poki to Y/N. 

“Well maybe the other impostor is either you or Sykkuno and you’re just trying to clear each other?”

“Um, if there were two impostors among the three of us, the third person would have to be a crewmate. I mean, it would be impossible for them to kill somebody without a crewmate seeing it.” Sykkuno pointed out, much to Corpses’ relief. 

“I knew Sykkuno would vouch for her” he told his chat, before unmuting himself to defend Y/N as well “Haven’t we already established that Poki is sus as well? She was last seen near the body and has no alibi.” 

“I didn’t do it. The only person that could vouch for me is dead, we were with each other the entire round. I leave her for a few seconds and somebody kills her, but it wasn’t me.” 

“I don’t think she’s lying guys, I mean, if she killed Rae she’d probably be dead already” Felix chuckled “Let’s just skip this round, we don’t have enough evidence.”

“Alright, but Y/N,” Toast said, as everyone pressed the skip button “I have my eyes on you.”

Corpse could hear her sigh before everyone muted their mics. 

“We’ve gotta get rid of Toast guys, he’s too suspicious. I don’t want him accusing my partner in crime, even though he’s right” he chuckled under his breath, following Toast’s character into Admin. “Alright, Felix is with us as well, good. If I just pretend I’m doing card swipe, they’re gonna both vouch for me since everyone knows I’m great at this task.” he shook his head with a deep laugh escaping his throat. 

He could see the other two astronauts running around admin, before they both decided to leave, which gave Corpse a perfect opportunity to frame Toast. He killed the lights and chased his victim who, much to his joy, was now completely alone in comms. 

“Hi, Felix. Bye, Felix.” Corpse snapped his neck before speeding out of the room and venting into Navigation.

That’s when someone fixed the lights. And Corpse jumped out of the vent, only to come face to face with none other than Toast. 

“SHIT” he laughed in panic, seeing that he couldn’t use the kill function yet. “Shit, he must’ve seen me.”

And indeed, it took Toast just a split of second to run out of the room and speed towards the emergency button, Corpse hot on his tail, even though he knew he wouldn’t avoid getting ejected. 

“I’m busted guys, there’s no way they’re gonna believe me” he told his audience, watching as Toast’s character approached the button. However, Corpse wasn’t sure if he was just seeing things, but he thought that he saw an outline of another character appear out of nowhere just mere seconds before Toast called the meeting...

“YES” he almost screamed, at the same time laughing hysterically, when he saw the red cross decorating Toast’s name. 

“WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?!” Sean yelled, similarly to every other player that remained alive. “HOW DID THAT HAPPENED?!”

“Oh my God.”

“But- I don’t get it. What just happened?” Y/N’s soft voice sounded out, making Corpse laugh even more. 

“Someone killed Toast the moment he called the meeting.” Sykkuno explained, barely holding himself from laughing.

“Is that even possible?” she asked confused, her voice sounding so innocent and sweet that the other impostor couldn’t stop himself from grinning.

“Oh my god, she’s just- I can’t.” he chuckled deeply “She’s too precious guys, I swear I’m gonna do everything to keep her alive.”

“Yeah, that’s some big brain move. And since Toast is dead, there’s only one person with balls who could do it” Sean said, clearly very sure of his next words.

“CORPSE!” Lily chirped into her microphone, her voice soon being followed by others who eagerly agreed with her. 

“Okay, I admit I saw them in admin where I was doing the card swipe, but then they both left and I haven’t seen them anymore.”

“Were you in admin this whole time?” Poki asked. 

“Um- yeah, pretty much. I tried to beat my own record in failing a card swipe.” he replied, making everyone laugh. He thought of it as a good cover, unless someone entered the admin after he left... 

“Sykkuno where are you?” Poki directed her next question to the lime astronaut.

“Why am I accused again?” he asked confused “I was with Sean in medbay, I think Y/N joined us for a moment to do the scan, then she left, and then Toast called the meeting.”

“So maybe it’s her?” Dave commented “I mean, medbay is right next to the cafeteria, so she had quite an easy access to the emergency button.”

“Yeah, that would actually make sense” Lily added.

“Oh no, they’re gonna vote her off...” Corpse mumbled under his breath, deciding that he had to intervene. She just saved his ass, he couldn’t possibly just watch her get ejected because of that. 

“Guys, I didn’t even know it was possible to kill someone this way. Trust me, I played only a few times and Jack made sure not to reveal any of his big brain moves.” she scoffed at the last part, making Jack let out a loud laugh.

“How can we be sure you’re not just acting all innocent? I mean, you exposed Felix last game, being one of the last people to stay alive.”

“Y/N was with me when Toast called the meeting, she is innocent” Corpse decided to finally speak up. The silence settled among other players. “She found me in admin and made sure nobody killed me when I failed the fucking card swipe.”

“Why are you saying this just now, Corpse?”

“Cause he’s fallen for her god damn trap! I told you!” Sean argued.

“What trap?” Y/N asked confused.

“I mean, who wouldn’t? It’s like listening to an angel” Corpse said, before he could stop himself. Everyone on the call went wild, just like his chat did... He didn’t know why he said that, it just slipped before he really thought about it.

“Corpse, you do realize you’re simping only makes you even more suspicious?” Poki asked with a laugh, and Corpse felt the blush rising up his cheeks. Even more, when Y/N completely ignored this comment, deciding to suddenly stay quiet...

Did he make her uncomfortable with such comments?

“Seriously though, I’m pretty sure it wasn’t her. We watched each other’s back, so I’m also clean.” 

“As much as I hate to do it, I have to agree with Corpse on this one” Sean suddenly said. “That she’s innocent, I mean. I’m sure Corpse just follows her around like a lost puppy and I didn’t see the two of them, but I doubt Y/N knew it’s possible to kill somebody like that. No offense kiddo.”

“See? Guys, it wasn’t me!” she exclaimed. 

“Wait, why do you hate to agree with me?” Corpse asked in confusion.

“CAUSE YOU’RE KINDA SUS CORPSE” 

“What? I just told you my alibi, weren’t you listening Jack?”

“We have twenty seconds left” Lily reminded, cause everyone seemed to forget about the voting time. “We don’t skip at 7, right?”

“Alright, I’m voting Corpse, I still think he’s sus even though I agreed with him.” Sean announced, much to Y/N’s dismay. She quickly objected, trying to defend her fellow impostor:

“It’s NOT him, I watched him fail that dang card swipe!”

“DANG?! NO NEED TO BE SO OFFENSIVE YOUNG LADY” 

“I’m also voting Corpse, he must be one of them.” Lily agreed with Jack.

“Sykkuno, I hope you’re not doing what I think you’re doing” Y/N asked the lime astronaut, who was silent for the past few minutes.

“I um- I don’t know, they kinda have a point Y/N...”

“Sykkuno, listen to me.” she lowered her voice, trying to convince him “Corpse is not the impostor. You know you can trust me, right?”

“...”

“SYKKUNO GOD DAMN IT, DON’T LISTEN TO HER!”

“Sorry guys...”

Corpse burst out laughing, seeing that out of seven remaining players, five of them decided to skip. 

“She’s too good” he chuckled, quickly running up Y/N’s character when they started the next round. He circled her white astronaut, and she seemed to get his message because she eagerly followed him into Electrical to fake the tasks and wait for someone to show up. 

Soon enough two figures waltzed into the room, only to be simultaneously decapitated by the two impostors, who then swiftly vented into medbay and locked the door to their crime scene. 

“That was smooth” Corpse smiled, happily running around Y/N’s character. “I love being impostors with Y/N, it’s so much fun. The best thing is that no one besides Toast really suspects her of doing something wrong.”

Corpse figured Y/N sabotaged the oxygen because the next thing he saw was Lily running past medbay to stop it from depleting. 

“Ladies first, Y/N” he mumbled, and even though she couldn’t hear him, her small character sped up and left the medbay, chasing after Lily. He waited a few seconds, before bursting out laughing.

Victory. 

“WHAT THE FUCK?!” Sean yelled in shock “Y/N?! EXPLAIN YOURSELF RIGHT NOW”

“Y/N HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?!”

“That was... I would never guess it was you!” 

“I’m sorry guys, I really didn’t want to kill any of you” she laughed apologetically, but Corpse could sense she was smiling “I just had no other choice...”

“Yeah, I’m sure you killed us by accident” Toast’s voice blared out, followed by loud laughter.

“What was that again? I didn’t even know you could kill someone this way?” Felix mocked in a high pitched voice, making them laugh hysterically. Corpse also found himself unable to catch a breath between his giggles.

“I told you guys they’d fuck us up.” Rae spoke up “But I was actually glad Y/N killed me first, watching her kill Toast was so much fun.”

“Ha ha, thanks, Rae!” Toast exclaimed ironically.

“Y/N and Corpse are just complete serial killers, I don’t know how else to comment that” Felix chuckled. 

“Well...” Corpse mumbled, unmuting his microphone “I can’t disagree. She’s a perfect partner in crime.”

“NOT AGAIN WITH SIMPING CORPSE” he heard Sean’s response, and once again felt awkward when his all his friends laughed at him, and Y/N remained quiet. 

That was, however, until her soft voice effectively quietened everyone. 

“It was.. an honor to murder my friends with you.” 

Corpse never thought his face could hurt from smiling so much...

“Alright, who’s up for another game?” Felix asked after a few moments, and received a chorus of me’s from almost everyone. 

“Unfortunately I have to go now, but it was so fun playing with you guys!” Y/N said, making everyone (Corpse included) object rather loudly:

“One more round, please? I want to see you kill someone again!”

“C’mon kid, what else do you have to do?”

“Stay with us Y/N, I need someone to protect me!” 

“I’m sorry but I’m really tired. I’m sure I’d just fall asleep on my desk and Toast would come up behind my back to murder me.”

“Well, that was actually my plan...” the man in question replied with a chuckle.

“You sure you don’t wanna stay?” Corpse finally asked “Killing won’t be the same without you...”

“I know, and I’m sorry... But I was working the whole day and my eyes just hurt and I feel like I’m gonna faint” she replied. 

“Alright, but just so you know, we’re playing again later this week, and I better see you entering the lobby on time” Felix said, trying to sound threatening, but failing at it. Y/N giggled to herself, the sound making Corpse smile almost unknowingly. 

“I wouldn’t dare to miss a chance to murder my new friends!” 

“Oh my god, she’s too adorable!” 

Everyone said their goodbyes and soon Y/N left the call, her small astronaut disappearing from the lobby, much to Corpse’s disappointment. He wished she’d stay a little longer, playing with her was something he found incredibly fun and quite relaxing if he was completely honest. Or maybe aside from playing itself, listening to her voice was what kept bringing a smile to his face every time she spoke up. 

“Guys, I think I’m also gonna call it a day, it was really fun.”

“What? It’s not even been over an hour!” Rae protested. 

“Yeah, I um.. I know but-”

“Don’t push him guys, he can’t play without his partner in crime” Toast’s teasing voice made everyone burst out laughing, and Corpse just shook his head, glad that nobody could see how red his face became.

“Fuck you guys, okay?” he chuckled into the mic, before finally saying his goodbyes and leaving as well. He thanked his viewers for watching and promised to stay longer next time, before closing the discord. 

He sat for a moment in his chair, staring at the black screen, a smile slowly widening on his lips. It was one of the best games he had ever played in Among Us, and he couldn’t wait to be Impostor with Y/N again. 

“Perfect partner in crime... I’m such an idiot” he mumbled under his breath and felt himself blush, shaking his head at how awkward that must’ve sounded. He pulled his phone out and checked his Twitter, only for his eyes to widen once he saw the top trending hashtags. 

#Y/NxCorpse

#Y/NfortheBride

#PerfectPartnerInCrime

“Oh my God...” Corpse yelped, covering his eyes with his hand as if it would make all those tweets disappear. “Why am I the way I am?” 

He considered texting her, trying to maybe make things less awkward than they already were, but decided against it. He feared he’d make even more of an idiot out of himself... 

Convinced that all those comments about simping and now those hashtags made her uncomfortable, it didn’t even cross his mind that Y/N might be looking at them at the exact same moment, with adorable blush tinting her cheeks, and her lips turning into a small, shy smile...  

A/N: I think about writing 3rd part... 

[thattimdrakeguy]

I wrote a much longer post but felt like I was just saying other things everyone already has (Not that I’m important anyways), but basically, fuck the Supreme Court from not knowing what it’s supposed to do. A government doesn’t work when there’s corrupt people.

If someone says “Lets the states decide” or “Well, if it’s from an insidious crime” then they show that they don’t care, nor think of it as murder. They’re just stubborn, and are probably so uncomfortable they don’t even begin to think of the ramifications.

And if Justice Clarence Thomas died, I would not shed a single fucking tear. I don’t want him dead. I don’t want anyone to be dead. I’m not wishing for death. But unless I misunderstood what he said. I think he is a rotten person. He could be the nicest person to individuals, but I do not care. I don’t know regardless, but I do not care. When you think it’s fine to take away the right’s of anyone that can get pregnant, and are threatening the notion of gay marriage among other things, you are a bad person.

Plus, if anyone genuinely really thinks that it not being in the constitution as a right is a real point. Then I can only assume that thinking for themselves is very stressful if they need a piece of paper to tell them what should be rights.

You shouldn’t vote on things based on the position you’re already in, you should vote based on if you were in a position were it effects you, or at the very least think about it for more than a couple minutes.

To almost be life is not equal to life.

Otherwise if we were to act like things that have the potential to become life are already life, then we have a lot of teenage boys to arrest for their mass murdering ways.

Here are other people who I also would not shed a tear in the case of their death, I only saw Clarence Thomas’ stance on gay marriage is the reason why I said him specifically. Also correct me if I wrote any mistakes on these names:

Samuel Alito

Neil Gorsuch

Brett Kavanaugh (Didn’t even realize that dude actually got in.)

Amy Coney Barrett

This means five people voted against people’s rights. That is the most backwards way to run a country. And the lack of shame is pathetic.

[susiephone]

i think we need to completely overhaul the way debate is taught in schools tbh. like yes it’s important to learn how to structure and research an argument, but it should also be used to emphasize that even beliefs that are utter bullshit, often objectively so, can still sound legit if the person espousing those beliefs is good at debate -- being right and being good at debate are two very different things!

we need to start teaching things like “this isn’t really an argument, it’s a tactic of making your opponent shut up” and “these are common ways people manipulate data to make it serve their argument, so be careful” and “these oft-cited statistics and studies are just straight-up not true and were debunked ages ago”

on that note, we need to stop having students practice debate with topics like “is climate change real” or “do women deserve access to safe abortions” or “are gay and trans people human beings.” mostly because it’s super shitty to act like “no” is an acceptable answer to any of those questions, but also because, inevitably, you will force some students to defend a bigoted position they don’t agree with -- and it puts marginalized students who are actually effected by those issues directly in the line of fire. it also inadvertently teaches students to engage in bad faith debate tactics; it doesn’t matter if what you’re saying is actually true or not, just so long as you shout down the other person. (plus, unless you plan to become a lawyer or something, you probably won’t ever be in a position where you feel the need to defend a position you don’t actually agree with.)

also, those debates are just no fun.

so i suggest we have students either debate a) totally arbitrary and pointless shit, like whether or not pineapple goes on pizza, or b) completely buckwild and ridiculous things that practically no one would actually have an opinion about prior to this class.

for instance:

velociraptors were known to have incredible intelligence. in a world where dinosaurs were still alive alongside humans, should we give raptors the right to vote?

who should become our new vice principal: bigfoot or mothman?

in a world without money as we know it, what would be a better form of currency: chocolate or puppies?

should the president pardon redd animal crossing for his crimes against humanity?

what would make a better weapon against an army of angry ostriches: flamethrowers or nunchucks?

[bastardfae]

“oh, you’ll always need it. maybe not in the immediate present or whatever, but there’ll come a time when you do need it. unless you fuck off forever to heaven or somethin’. doubt you’ll need it then. but ‘s still important.” maybe gibson wouldn’t have any need for it whatsoever but at the very least, it’d pass a little time for them both and given the alternatives provided by the castle, it was a preferable pastime. arnon instinctively stroked soothing patterns against the celestial’s back as he nestled closer, the need to protect and guard him against all the cruelties present within their shared prison growing stronger with each moment that passed. he’d have to try and find a way to inform his father that gibson was another that needed immediate freeing from the castle’s constraints. it’d undoubtedly fuck up the plans the older faerie had in place but arnon knew with unwavering certainty that gibson needed an out just as badly as he did. he snickered at the words that left the celestial shortly after and held him tighter to demonstrate his appreciation. “yeah? appreciate it. thanks, man. you might be the only one, but a single vote’s better than nothin’.” even if it seemed like a pipe dream given their current circumstances, there was no doubt in arnon’s mind that one day, it would be a reality. the time would come when the council were made to pay for their crimes and arnon would make sure he was front and centre when that fateful day finally dawned.

arnon shifted his focus to concentrate on every word that left gibson as he pulled back slightly, his brow lightly furrowing as he listened intently. “probably be better if we sat down for that kinda talk. ‘s a long story; the kind that you’ll need to be comfortable listenin’ to. but i’ve got most’a the answers you’re lookin’ for, trust me. i’ve heard enough from very reputable sources to give you an honest depiction of what went down,” pausing for a second, arnon replayed gibson’s words in his mind before lightly shaking his head in gentle disagreement. “don’t beat yourself up over it. what matters is that you can help now by learning what happened and committing to ensuring that it never happens again. we can figure that out together, yeah?” arnon’s smile faltered as the question was posed and he pursed his lips into a contemplative pout, cutting his gaze elsewhere to avoid having to maintain eye contact. “eh… kinda. kinda is, kinda isn’t. ‘s up to those shitbags who they claim. the frequency of such claims ain’t here nor there. like all things, it happens when they feel like it,” after a moment, arnon turned his full attention back to gibson with a weighted sigh. “my situation’s a little different. i lived in the village for a good few years. had nothin’ to do with the council or the castle. tiernan was in town one day an’ came into the shop i worked in. we got into a disagreement that got a little ugly. threats were exchanged on both sides. i thought nothin’ of it. then all the assassination attempts started an’ tiernan, paranoid bastard that he is, decided it was suitable to cast suspicion over me for the attempt on his life despite all the evidence proving that i wasn’t anywhere near the bastard when the attempt was made. regardless, the leeches put me on trial and found me guilty through some non-sensical story they pulled from their collective ass. at the time, the punishment for being found guilty was death. i wasn’t worried about that, though. when a halfling dies, it’s pretty normal for us to be reborn as a fully-fledged faerie an’ we spend the rest of our days in the realm. given that the vampires cut off the portals back to the realm, i was mentally prepared to finally be among my own kind for the first time ever,”

arnon paused for breath for a second, not realising how caught up in his retelling he’d gotten until the dull ache in his lungs registered. “obviously that didn’t happen. instead, tiernan suggested that my punishment would be servitude to him. indefinitely. funnily enough, it’s definitely a fate worse than death. i’d take death over spending another minute in his company in a heartbeat. but that’s not an option. not when there’s still the matter of tearing the council to shreds. so i’m jus’ biding my time for now. still, i wouldn’t recommend the experience. when you’re owned by a councilman, you’re pretty much fucked. like, no one can step in. their word is law and that’s that. doesn’t mean i don’t try to piss him off on a regular basis though. fucker’s got another thing coming if he expects complete compliance. ‘s what he gets for being an arrogant cunt in the first place.”

"I would like that a lot. I don't know if I really need to write anymore but it would be nice to know how. Just in case I ever happen to need it. " Plus he thought it would be nice to spend more time with Arnon. For all his fire and passion in things that Gibson found entirely too dark, the angel liked his presence, it made him smile, and inspired him to perhaps be a bit more up in arms over the injustices pushed onto them all. Gibson hugged Arnon and buried his face in the other's neck holding him tight. A silent prayer to a Creator he had never met that this lovely young man would find more in life than just vengeance. Because once that was through then what was there? What joy was left when all the enemies you sought to destroy are burned and gone. "I'll vote for you to be president when that all happens. Dismantling the totalitarian regime and all that." The mention of Arnon being on a clock made Gibson's heart twinge a bit in sadness. Mortality was a beautiful and cruel thing.

Pulling himself back a little bit "I would like to learn more about the war and what it was other celestials did. It might make me feel closer to them all. I wish I could say I tried to help the world." Gibson was truthfully a bit worried about being claimed by some cruel master- he saw how some of the others came back from visits. And it's not that he was scared- his body would endure. But who would he be after going through pain like that day in and day out? He rather liked who he was now. "Is that common to be claimed by someone on the actual Council?"

[gaythingliker69]

PLEASE READ

TW: transphobia, mentions of hate crime

Hi, so since my post the other night I feel a sort of responsibility to tell people the situation of trans people in the UK. The short answer is it’s really bleak. The first thing I’ll mention is that in 2017 a trans woman was given residency in New Zealand from the UK as she faced “persecution” for her gender identity. The NZ authorities ruled that to send her back here would be “unduly harsh”. This must be at the forefront of everyone’s mind when trans rights come up in the UK, though it’s been forgotten over the last few years.

At that point the Labour Party was sort of ok for trans rights, with then leader Jeremy Corbyn calling for self ID. He certainly wasn’t perfect but he was better than his replacement. Corbyn was replaced by Sir Keir Starmer last year, and in his campaign for the leadership he refused to sign a pledge for trans rights, which was signed by his competitors Rebecca Long-Bailey and Lisa Nandy. The fourth contender, Emily Thornberry, refused to sign the pledge but spoke of her support for trans rights after the fact. Gemma Stone, a trans woman who said she was considering joining Labour but decided against it, described Starmer’s silence on the issue as “deafening”.

These days, Parliamentary support for trans rights comes from the backbenches - Members of Parliament who don’t hold a position as a government minister or shadow government minister. These include Zarah Sultana (the responses on that tweet are awful, but gives you an idea of what we’re up against) and Nadia Whittome of the Labour left, and Layla Moran of the Liberal Democrats, the first MP to identify as openly pansexual. Nicola Sturgeon, leader of the Scottish National Party, has called transphobia “not acceptable” in her party. However, Moran lost the LD leadership contest to Sir Ed Davey in 2020, so no party in Parliament in England and Wales has a platform for trans rights. Starmer has appeared to embolden transphobia by not cracking down on MPs like Rosie Duffield. We are very much on our own. Even on the far left, often accused of supporting trans rights as a means to undermine Western civilisation or something (I joke but I think you get my point), has major issues with it. The Communist Party of Britain has rumours and allegations of transphobia in its ranks, and the Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist-Leninist) infamously referred to LGBT+ politics as “anti-Marxist” and “anti working class”. Are there no working class LGBT+ people? Regardless, even the people who are labelled as liking us don’t appear to.

And Johnson’s Conservatives are a non starter. Just this year, they proposed making unenrolled deed polls (a method of quickly changing your name) invalid. This would mean there is a publicly available list of trans people and other vulnerable individuals, like those trying to escape or disassociate from abusive partners. The process would require consent from any spouse (the only other process of this nature that requires this is gender recognition for trans people) and the addresses of those who have changed their names would be public knowledge. I shouldn’t have to tell you how dangerous that is. It also appears there is little being done to stop the rise in hate crime, which were reported to have quadrupled last year. Politics is openly hostile from nearly every corner, it would seem.

In terms of healthcare there has been a similar decline. The BBC described waiting lists of over 3 years for gender clinics as “hell” (bear in mind this article was written before the pandemic hit the UK), though there were claims on Twitter that these times were up to 60 months in some places. These waiting times can lead to people taking the unfamiliar and often expensive private route. The High Court recently ruled that under 16s are unlikely to be able to give informed consent on puberty blockers, a troubling ruling that could have dangerous consequences depending on how the courts extend it in the future. The ruling that puberty blockers can only be used after you’ve gone through the bulk of puberty is a really curious one from a logical standpoint - they are not hormones, they are not irreversible. But I fear that’s what the courts or Parliament will come for next.

If you’re looking for an alternative source with different information from someone older, here’s a decent thread on how British transphobia partly emerged from the Skeptics in the Pub movement, making it unique to this hellish little rock.

This overview is really brief, and it would require me going a lot further in depth to go into how the media has fed into this, the controversies surrounding certain private doctors, or different groups and dog whistles they’ve adopted. But for now, I honestly feel quite helpless. There’s not much you can do to affect Parliament, especially not with the new laws coming in around protest in the Police, Crime, Sentencing, and Courts Bill. Petitions are useless unless they’re done through the Parliament website. If they gain 10,000 signatures they go to a petitions committee, then maybe the House of Commons itself. Only to be almost definitely voted down by Johnson’s Conservatives and their majority. Just please, spread this for all of us living here, and give any sort of suggestions for action. I fear this is going to get far worse before it gets better. We can but hope I’m wrong.

Update: 05/05/21

There have been some recent developments that I’m gonna note. I might use this as a sort of compilation document of documenting our position here.

Maya Forstater was a contracted consultant at the Centre for Global Development. Her contract wasn’t renewed in 2019 after a series of transphobic Twitter posts caused staff to complain about her. She received support from the Index for Censorship and was able to crowdfund her campaign. At the Central London Employment Tribunal, Judge James Tayler branded her views “not worthy of respect in a democratic society”. He said that her views weren’t protected under the Equality Act 2010 as they “violated the dignity” of trans people due to her insistence on misgendering. Judge Tayler did not say she couldn’t conduct so called ‘gender critical’ campaigns.

Part of Tayler’s judgement from the above linked article, the judgement itself can be read here. Various views on the case can be found in the ‘Reaction to the tribunal judgement’ of the Wikipedia article.

Forstater appealed, and there is yet to be a judgement. However, the Equality abs Human Rights Commission has intervened to say that Forstater’s beliefs are protected under the Equality Act as they are philosophical beliefs. The irony in this should be clear. The equality watchdog making an effort to protect bigotry over people’s right not to face abuse. I’ll update this when the decision is handed down, which will be later in the year.